vendredi 6 novembre 2015

DO WHAT YOU CAN -- HAZ LO QUE PUEDAS -- FAITES CE QUE VOUS POUVEZ

November 8, 2015

Do What you Can

(1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44)Fr. Rene Butler

Two women are highlighted in today’s readings. One of them feeds a prophet with the little food she has and is rewarded with enough food to see her and her son through a time of famine. The other is a poor widow who puts a paltry amount into the temple offering box, and is praised by Jesus for giving more than all the rich people, because she gave “her whole livelihood.”

Both of them did something of little worth in human estimation, but great in the eyes of God. With limited means, they did the little they could.

In the vast expanse of the universe, each of us is tinier than the tiniest speck of dust. But the world’s problems are enormous. Will you or I be able to resolve them? The answer is, “Do what you can.”

At La Salette, in speaking of prayer, the Beautiful Lady told the children to say their night prayers and morning prayers well, if only an Our Father and a Hail Mary when they couldn’t do better. We should never stop praying simply because we don’t have the time to pray as much or as well as we might wish. “Do what you can.”

In fact, Mary asked nothing extraordinary of her people, just to honor God’s name, attend Sunday Mass, pray daily, and observe the practice of Lent. Those are things we can do easily enough. The challenge is to do them “well,” which means in sincerity, faith and humility, according to our own ability.

Mary’s song of praise, the Magnificat, is an example of that humility. “He has looked with favor on his lowly servant.”

It is possible that you or I may be called to do great things one day. When and if that day comes, we must not refuse. If, on the other hand, like Maximin and Mélanie, we live ordinary lives, we need not refuse that either.

Many years ago I attended a wonderful series of lectures on prayer by Fr. Herbert Alphonso, S.J. At the end of the three days he concluded with a question: “So, how should you pray?” which he answered with: “Pray as you can.”

Doing “what we can” is usually the best thing we can do to give glory to God.